A joint multiple myeloma program is bringing new treatments and quality-of-life improvements to Ohio State patients. Multiple myeloma is a rare blood cancer that forms when plasma cells (types of white blood cells) multiply at an abnormal rate, causing buildups in patients’ bone marrow. “In myeloma, the cancer cells live in the bone marrow, in the liquid center of the bones,” says Don Benson, MD, PhD, the director of The Ohio State University’s myeloma program. Multiple myeloma symptoms include pain in the back, hips and other bones, and fatigue caused by the lowering of red blood cell counts. Click to learn more about multiple myeloma symptoms. Though multiple myeloma is rare — and despite significant treatment improvements in recent years — the condition can present major problems for patients that may significantly impact their daily lives. “Even though we’ve made incredible strides in survival, big international surveys have been done that show patients with myeloma actually report the worst quality of life of any cancer,” Benson says. “To put that in perspective, pancreatic cancer ranks number two in these surveys. As a world leader in myeloma care and research, Ohio State specialists are working to make new therapeutic strides through the Myeloma Center for Advanced Research Excellence (MCARE), a program dedicated to creating new treatments while also focusing on the quality-of-life issues facing today’s patients. “MCARE has grown exponentially since we started in late 2020. We have over 200 people involved in the center now, and that’s people from the myeloma program, physicians, scientists, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, dietitians and physical therapists,” says Benson, whose OSUCCC – James team works hand-in-hand with Ohio State’s Drug Development Institute with assistance from the Raney Foundation. “We’re working to develop drugs, identify unmet needs and find opportunities to accelerate those efforts — and most importantly, our patients and their loved ones have become involved as well.” Though the work underway at MCARE is extensive and far-reaching, the primary focus of the joint effort is shared by everyone involved, according to Benson. “The number one goal of the MCARE Center is to cure myeloma,” he says. “Endowing chairs and constructing buildings are very noble things, but the primary goal is to bring new treatments to patients to address unmet medical needs, and ultimately to cure this cancer.”